Walsh University President Richard Jusseaume has named Miguel Chavez as Associate Vice President for Mission Implementation, effective July 1, 2017.
In this newly created position, Chavez will be responsible for sustaining the founding Mission of Walsh University. He will be responsible for the external relationships Walsh has within the Catholic community, locally, nationally and internationally, including partners such as the Cardinal Newman Society, The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and the Diocese of Youngstown. He will oversee activities and programs that will promote the legacy of Walsh’s founders, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, within the context of Catholic Higher Education.
"Over the past several years, we have purposely developed initiatives designed to preserve and sustain the charism and legacy of our founders, the Brothers of Christian Instruction. By creating this new position, we are helping to ensure that mission and faith will continue to lie at the heart of the Walsh community," said President Jusseaume. "Miguel truly embodies the values and Catholic faith of Walsh University. His ability to build relationships within the Catholic community will be an important asset to the development of future programming and collaborations on campus."
Miguel Chavez has served as Walsh’s Director of Campus Ministry since 2009. He joined Walsh professionally in the summer of 2004 and served as Campus Minister in the Residence Halls for four years, creating a residential ministry peer-mentoring program, which eventually became Walsh’s Peacemaker Scholarship Program. He was the first layperson named to the position of Director of Campus Ministry. Under his tenure as Director, Chavez maintained the vision of the Campus Ministry Department and was certified as a professional Catholic Campus Minister through the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
During his time at Walsh, Chavez has organized and led student immersion experiences all across the country, pilgrimages to Mexico City, as well as countless retreats. In 2015, Miguel received a $19,000 grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute to create and implement a leadership in faith program called, ELPIS (walsh.edu/elpis), which involved retreats for Catholic high school students and a fall and spring speaker series. Miguel has authored and implemented the young adult ministry program From Water into Wine, which uses wine tasting and a weekly themed manual as the medium for outreach to young adults. He was voted Mentor of the Year by the graduating class in 2009 and received the Terrance Portis Mentor of the Year award in 2013. In 2015 Miguel was recognized as a Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce YStark "20 under 40 Professional Leader" award recipient. He enjoys cooking, running, fountain pens, fishing, and being an identical twin.
Miguel received his B.A. and M.A. in Theology and Pastoral Ministry and M.B.A. from Walsh University. He serves as an adjunct professor in Theology on main campus and for the School for Professional Studies. He is married to Walsh DPT alumnus Dr. Kristen Chavez and they have two beautiful children, Avery and Tessa.